Sports News of Monday, 2 March 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

5 things we learned from GPL matchday 12

Hearts of Oak 1-1 Elmina Sharks play videoHearts of Oak 1-1 Elmina Sharks

The 2019/20 Ghana Premier League bounced back over the weekend after a one-week break for the round of 64 matches in the MTN FA Cup which saw Giants Aduana Stars and defending Champions Asante Kotoko losing their heads to Asokwa Deportivo and Bechem United respectively.

The game was honoured across all match venues in the country with Bechem United, King Faisal and Ashantigold emerging the biggest causalities of the weekend.

With a game to go on matchday 12, we have recorded 21 goals with 15 of those goals being scored by the home teams against the 6 produced by the visitors.

GhanaWeb.com looks at 5 things learned from this weekend’s round of matches.

The fortress is back

WAFA SC gave Ashantigold SC their biggest defeat in the history of the Ghana Premier League after thrashing them 6-1 at the Sogakope Red Bull Arena.

Goals from Konadu Yiadom, Haruna Jalilu Mola, Daniel Owusu, and Ibrahim Abukari did the magic for the Academy lads as they triumphed over the miners while Amos Kofi Nkrumah scored a consolation for Ashanti Gold.

WAFA was feared in the league because of their invisibility at their home grounds over the years but after giants Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko got goalless results in Sogakope, many thought the invisibility was but the win over the weekend has sent a strong warning to the others teams especially Aduana Stars who will be visiting the venue on matchday 14.



Inconsistent Hearts of Oak

Hearts of Oak failed to close up the gap on the league leaders following their 1-1 draw with Elmina Sharks at the Accra Sports Stadium after Kofi Kordzi cancelled Denis Mensah’s match opener in the first 45 minutes of the game.

After 12 rounds of games, the Phobians have recorded 4 wins,3 defeats, and 5 drawn games but not even 2 wins out of the four they have recorded came in a row as they are battling with inconsistencies.
Coach Nii Odoom and his team need to up their game if they have any hopes of breaking their 10-year drought in the Ghana Premier League.



Accra smiles at Kotoko

Asante Kotoko started their journey at their newly adopted home venue, the Accra Sports Stadium with a 3-1 triumphant victory over Bechem United despite the visitors drawing the blood on Friday night.

A goal each from Martin Antwi, Augustine Okrah and Ibrahim Moro secured the maximum points for the Porcupine Warriors while Konkoni Hafiz Wontah scored the consolation goal for the Hunters.

The Accra Sports Stadium seems to be a good venue for Kotoko in this league campaign because 8 out of the 13 goals they scored have come from the Accra Sports Stadium.3-1 against Legon Cities FC,2-1 to Hearts of Oak and 3-1 against Bechem United.

2nd Highest scoring team battles relegation

Alhaji Grusah’s King Faisal babies have become the whipping boys in the league so far as they are still waiting for their first win after matchday 12.

Having scored the second-highest number of goals being 16, they have conceded 27 which is simply the reason why they lie bottom on the league log.

The next 3 fixtures may be a defining moment for their season as they play Medeama SC on week 13, Ebusua Dwarfs on 14 and Hearts of Oak on week 15 at the Obuasi Len Clay Sports Stadium.

Yahaya Mohammed and Victorien Adebayor failed to hit a target

Both Inter Allies captain, Victorien Adebayor and veteran striker, Yahaya Mohammed failed to record their names on the score sheet in the same match week for the first time since the start of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League in December.

Adebayor is leading the goal king race with 11 goals while his challenger, Yahaya is fighting to overtake him with 10 but the football circles became quiet as the two couldn’t make any headlines over the weekend.

Behind them is Prince Opoku Agyemang (Medeama) who will be in action today against Accra Great Olympics at the Akoon Community Park in Tarkwa while Prince Kwabena Adu (Bechem United) couldn’t increase his tally in his sides 3-1 loss to Asante Kotoko.